White House senior trade adviser Peter Navarro is offering new details about Maria Bartiromo’s abrupt split from Fox News, claiming the longtime anchor was sidelined after an internal network directive involving President Donald Trump’s election-security speech made its way to the White House.
Navarro laid out his version of events in a Washington Times opinion column this week, directly accusing Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott of “muzzling” Bartiromo following Trump’s nationally televised July 16 address.
The account adds another layer to the still-disputed circumstances surrounding Bartiromo’s departure after more than 12 years at Fox. Fox News Media announced Sept. 3 that Bartiromo was “no longer with” the company, effective immediately, but offered no detailed explanation. The network subsequently described the move as a business decision. Navarro says the dispute began before Trump’s July 16 prime-time address on election security.
During that speech, Trump released declassified materials that he said showed extensive Chinese acquisition of U.S. voter information and other vulnerabilities in the American election system. He also repeated broader concerns about the integrity of the 2020 election and urged Congress to enact tighter voting requirements.
Trump’s assertion that China interfered with the 2020 election in ways that affected the election process went beyond previous U.S. intelligence assessments, which did not find evidence that a foreign government altered vote totals or changed the election outcome. According to Navarro, Bartiromo had booked him to appear on Mornings With Maria the following morning to discuss Trump’s speech.
That plan changed after Fox Business senior vice president of programming Ralph Giordano sent guidance to Bartiromo’s production team instructing them not to emphasize the address or devote segments to the 2020 election. Navarro said Bartiromo then forwarded him a screenshot of the instruction.
The message, according to Navarro, said Fox did not want to “promote” Trump’s speech or conduct 2020 election segments on Thursday or Friday. Navarro acknowledged that he subsequently sent the internal Fox message to other officials inside the White House. “It was my duty to share that text with the White House,” Navarro wrote.
He further claimed that Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott then received an angry phone call from the West Wing complaining about the network’s handling of Trump’s address. Navarro portrayed what happened afterward as retaliation.
He alleged that Bartiromo was effectively given what he called a Fox “Golden Muzzle,” while Navarro himself was barred from appearing on the network. Fox has not publicly confirmed Navarro’s characterization of those events. But independent reporting has corroborated important portions of the sequence he described.
Puck News reported that Giordano sent the internal guidance to Bartiromo’s producers on July 15, ahead of Trump’s speech, and that Bartiromo had been preparing to discuss the address with Navarro on her program. Puck also reported that Fox executives later concluded Bartiromo had violated company policy by disclosing internal editorial guidance outside the network.
The Wall Street Journal similarly reported, citing a person familiar with the situation, that Bartiromo violated company policy by disclosing Fox’s news-coverage plans to the White House following Trump’s July address.
Navarro’s public admission that Bartiromo sent him the screenshot provides on-the-record confirmation of at least that portion of the reported sequence. He has rejected the suggestion that Bartiromo did anything improper. Navarro instead argues that Fox’s decision not to devote more coverage to the president’s speech amounted to censorship and that he was obligated, as a White House official, to tell the administration what had happened.
Fox executives could view the same event differently: as a journalist passing confidential internal editorial guidance to the administration whose activities the network was covering. That dispute appears to be central to the broader controversy surrounding Bartiromo’s exit. Fox itself has not said publicly that the July incident caused her departure. Its Sept. 3 announcement was brief.
“Effective today, Maria Bartiromo is no longer with FOX News Media,” the company said. “We thank Maria for her work over the last 12½ years and wish her all the best on her next chapter.” Bartiromo’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, has meanwhile challenged reports that she was fired.
Freedman has called claims that Bartiromo was terminated or is no longer a Fox employee “absolutely and unequivocally false,” saying his client has evidence and witnesses supporting her position. Fox has continued to stand by its statement that Bartiromo is no longer with Fox News Media. That leaves an unusual public disagreement over her precise employment status.
Whatever the contractual details, Bartiromo has disappeared from Fox’s programming. Her weekday Fox Business program, “Mornings With Maria,” has been renamed “Mornings with FOX Business” and is being hosted by rotating anchors.
“Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street” has similarly been renamed “FBN’s Wall Street,” while former Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz initially took over Sunday Morning Futures pending the selection of a permanent host.
Bartiromo had been one of Fox’s most prominent personalities. She joined the company in 2014 following two decades at CNBC and eventually hosted programs across both Fox Business and Fox News. Her relationship with Trump also became an important part of her public profile. Trump frequently appeared on her programs and publicly defended her following Fox’s announcement.
“I can’t believe Maria Bartiromo is no longer going to have her great show(s) on FoxNews/Business,” Trump wrote after the news broke, calling her a “total professional” and a “true warrior.”
